Jones talks about the future of the Cowboys’ coach, GM

DALLAS – Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones offered a mixed message when asked on his radio show Tuesday about the status of coach Jason Garrett’s job security.

The Cowboys hit the midway point of their season a disappointing 3-5 after Sunday night’s 19-13 loss at undefeated Atlanta, putting Garrett in the crosshairs of angry fans and other critics. With news breaking the same day that suspended New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton’s contract had been voided by the league, speculation increased that a pink slip could be in Garrett’s future.

But in an interview with KRLD-FM, Jones distanced himself from Payton, saying he hasn’t had any contact with the Super Bowl-winning coach, who has a home in Dallas. Jones also stressed that he’s adopted a patient approach with Garrett because such coaching greats as Cowboys’ legend Tom Landry and three-time Super Bowl winner Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots struggled early in their careers.

“You have to look at his short tenure and potential for the future,” Jones said of Garrett, who is 16-16 with Dallas after taking over midway through the 2010 season following the canning of Wade Phillips.

“…Look at Belichick being fired in Cleveland and ends up at New England. The books are full of coaches who started slow and ended up doing an outstanding job. I don’t have to remind you of Coach Landry’s early years (coaching the expansion Cowboys).”

Jones also said he’s reluctant to fire any coach after only two full seasons after firing Chan Gailey, who excited Dallas after the 2002 season with an 18-16 record.

“Yes, I made a coaching change with a coach who had been here two years,” Jones said. “I regretted it. That was not the thing I should have done. It’s one of the few things I would take back as far as the coaching thing.”

All of those comments favored him sticking with Garrett beyond this season, but Jones also said a few things that indicated he could have the former Cowboys backup quarterback on a short leash.

“We have talent,” Jones said, referring to linchpin players Tony Romo, DeMarcus Ware and Jay Ratliff, all of whom are in their prime.

“We have talent,” Jones said. “We don’t have time to have a bad time, not in their careers. We can’t have a coach gaining experience. That’s the challenge. We have to (hit) the ground running. We are not doing it right now.”

History says Jones likely will suffer through a third straight year without a trip to the playoffs. Since 1990, only seven NFL teams have landed postseason berths after starting 3-5.

A glimmer of hope, though, comes from the knowledge the Cowboys have a much easier schedule in the second half of the season. Of their next eight foes, only Pittsburgh (5-3) has a winning record. And five of those games will be at Cowboys Stadium.

It all begins Sunday at Philadelphia, another 3-5 team that started the season with playoff aspirations.

“We need to win a game,” Jones said. “I looked for an uptick when Jason took over. I look for that now. The arrow going up.”

There’s also been speculation Jones could make a run at hiring Payton as both coach and GM, a position Jones has held since he bought the team in 1989.

But Jones made it clear that he will never step down as GM.

“We are not structured that way,” he said. “We didn’t structure it that way with my ownership. There’s no way that I would be involved here and not be the final decision-maker on something as important as players, and that is a key area. That’s never been anybody’s misunderstanding. It’s been a debated thing, but it’s just not going to happen.”